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Mark Boucher’s remarkable feat of 500 Test catches is testimony to his longevity and fitness over the last 14 years

Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan09-Nov-2011Mark Boucher, who has featured in the most Tests as a wicketkeeper, has reached the unprecedented landmark of 500 catches in Test cricket. This outstanding feat is not only a tribute to his consistency, but also to the exceptional quality of his team’s fast bowlers and the bowler-friendly conditions in South Africa. Among South Africa players, only Jacques Kallis has played more Tests (145) than Boucher. Since his debut in 1997, Boucher has been a regular in the South Africa Test squad missing only ten Tests in between.Boucher, a quality batsman in his own right, is second behind Adam Gilchrist on the list of wicketkeepers with the most runs in Tests, but is by far the leader when it comes to wicket-keeping dismissals. He has a total of 522 dismissals from 140 Tests (139 for South Africa and one for ICC World XI) including 500 catches and 22 stumpings. His dismissals-per-innings figure of 1.962 is only marginally lower than that of Gilchrist, who is on top with a corresponding number of 2.178. The huge difference between the number of catches and stumpings for Boucher is indicative of the nature of the attack that South Africa have possessed for much of his career. Except for the odd spinner, the attack has predominantly revolved around pace. In sharp contrast, both Healy and Gilchrist have a higher percentage of stumpings because of the presence of top-quality spinners like Shane Warne and Stuart Macgill in their sides. Jeff Dujon, by virtue of being a part of the pace-heavy West Indies team, has the lowest percentage of stumpings among top wicketkeepers.**

Fielding stats for top wicketkeepers

PlayerMatchesInningsCatchesStumpingsTotal dismissalsDismissals/inningsMark Boucher139266500225221.962Adam Gilchrist96191379374162.178Ian Healy119224366293951.763Rodney Marsh96182343123551.950Jeff Dujon7915026552701.800Alan Knott95174250192691.545Most great wicketkeepers have forged successful partnerships with fast bowlers during the course of their career and Boucher is no exception. He has taken 84 catches off the bowling off Makhaya Ntini and 79 off Shaun Pollock. However, the dismissals-per-match figure was much lower in the case of Pollock. Only the Dennis Lillee-Rodney Marsh combination (95 dismissals in 69 Tests) and the Glenn McGrath-Gilchrist combination (90 dismissals in 71 Tests) are ahead of the Boucher-Ntini pairing. Although Boucher played only 35 Tests with Allan Donald, he took 53 catches off Donald’s bowling at a rate of 1.51 dismissals per match, which is well above the corresponding number for Lillee-Marsh and McGrath-Gilchrist.Ricky Ponting, part of Australia’s team in the two-match series, has been dismissed caught by Boucher nine times in Tests. Other batsmen who have been dismissed nine times are Andrew Flintoff, Chris Gayle and Michael Vaughan.

Most successful bowler-wicketkeeper combinations in Tests

BowlerFielderSpanMatchesCatchesCatches/MatchDennis LilleeRodney Marsh1971-198469951.37Glenn McGrathAdam Gilchrist1999-200771901.26Makhaya NtiniMark Boucher1998-200996840.87Brett LeeAdam Gilchrist1999-200865811.24Shaun PollockMark Boucher1997-200888790.89Malcolm MarshallJeff Dujon1983-199168711.04Boucher, who made his debut against Pakistan in 1997, had a very high dismissal rate in his first five years. South Africa’s top pace att,ack which included Donald, Pollock and Ntini, was responsible for this high dismissal rate of 2.043 between his debut and the end of 2001. Following the retirements of Donald and Pollock, the dismissal rate went down slightly between 2002 and 2006, and then fell substantially to 1.846 in Tests between 2007 and 2011. Surprisingly the dismissal rate in home Tests has also fallen from a high of 2.28 (1997-2001) and 2.24 (2002-2006) to just 1.78 since 2007.

Different phases of Boucher’s career

PhaseMatchesInningsDismissalsDismissals/InningsDebut-200148911862.0432002-200650961911.9892007-Present42791451.835Overall1402665221.962As expected, Boucher’s dismissal rate is very high (2.29) in England, where the conditions are ideal for swing bowling. He has also tasted much success at home (287 dismissals in 136 innings) and in the West Indies (dismissal rate 1.90). Australia’s dominance of South Africa in the last decade has meant that Boucher has generally had a lower number of dismissals in Australia. In the subcontinent, Boucher’s low dismissal rate reflects the nature of the conditions, which offer very little assistance to fast bowlers. His most successful series was in England in 1998, when he picked up 26 dismissals. That performance is joint-third on the list of most dismissals in a five-Test series, behind Marsh and Jack Russell.

Boucher’s record in various host countries

CountryMatchesInningsDismissalsDismissals/InningsAustralia1020301.50England1427622.29New Zealand612181.50South Africa/Zimbabwe741422942.07West Indies1221401.90Subcontinent (including UAE)2444781.77Boucher’s figures against Australia are lower not only as a consequence of Australia’s tremendous record against South Africa, but also because Australia’s batsmen have generally been excellent players of pace bowling. However, against teams from the subcontinent, the dismissal rate is much higher. The inability of most subcontinent batsmen to adjust to the pace-friendly conditions in South Africa is a major factor behind the high dismissal rate. South African bowlers have done superbly against England both home and away over the years, and on pitches that have consistently aided swing bowling, Boucher has an excellent dismissal rate of 2.23.

Boucher’s record against each team

OppositionMatchesInningsDismissalsDismissals/InningsAustralia2038641.68Bangladesh816402.50England25471052.23India1427602.22New Zealand1427391.44Pakistan1528551.96Sri Lanka1426572.19West Indies2445771.71Zimbabwe612252.08

The contest between India and Sri Lanka in Perth ebbed and flowed, but lacked intensity and excellence. Both teams have much improving to do if they are going to challenge Australia

Sidharth Monga at the WACA08-Feb-2012Finally we have a close game this Australian summer. Not a nailbiter, but certainly the closest international of the summer. It is little surprise that it has come between two old acquaintances that take attrition to a new level whenever they come up against each other. Interestingly, and surely there will be more than a few relieved by it, this was the first game between India and Sri Lanka since their World Cup final more than 10 months ago.While it was good to watch a close contest, the reduction in intensity and quality from the games that Australia have played in was obvious. The Sri Lanka batsmen were rusty, and their India counterparts gifted wickets generously. The second ball Virender Sehwag faced today was a length ball bowled at around 130kph, and he duly smashed it for four. He has spent the whole summer in a futile wait for one such ball.There was something missing tonight, and while it might sound a little harsh on the two teams, that missing thing was excellence.India contributed to making the game more interesting. Virender Sehwag, Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni fell to shots they were not in a good position to execute. Four of India’s six wickets fell to poorly executed aerial hits with the team under no undue pressure. The fifth, that of Virat Kohli, was a brain freeze. Kohli was cramping, and he had seen two other batsmen play irresponsibly to get out. Then he too went for a single he would have struggled to make even when fully fit.MS Dhoni, though, said the intensity was not lacking. “Maybe because there weren’t 280 runs on the board or because the match didn’t go too close,” Dhoni said of why people may have got the impression the match was low on energy. “At times it does look like that but I don’t think that was the case. We had our own problems to deal with, like ensuring Praveen [Kumar, who began with a poor first over] got into his rhythm and bowled his full quota of 10 overs. I don’t think the intensity was lacking at any point.”Sri Lanka’s strategy did not work that well. They must have seen India struggle against the Australia quicks all summer, and came into the game with three fast bowlers and two medium-pace bowling allrounders. They promoted Thisara Perera to take advantage of the batting Powerplay, but that flopped too, and they ended up with 23 runs for the loss of two wickets in that crucial spell of play.Amid all this, though, R Ashwin raised his game. He has not had a great tour of Australia, and has struggled to bowl enough good deliveries in a spell. Tonight he bowled six overs in the Powerplays, and three in the last 10. The odd short ball that kept getting punished against Australia was missing. His first over was a maiden, after which the pressure built. A wicket – Kumar Sangakkara’s – came, and the level of India’s fielding, which was beginning to drop, lifted again.When he came back into the attack, Ashwin dismissed an out-of-touch Mahela Jayawardene in the first over of the batting Powerplay. The bigger wicket was Dinesh Chandimal, who was well set on 64. With perhaps his best piece of bowling of the tour, Ashwin beat Chandimal in the flight and had him stumped after the ball spun away.Jayawardene would have loved to have had Ashwin in his side. At least he would not have been left with an all-seam attack. “We felt that the pitch was such that four seamers would probably do the job for us,” he said. “Picking up wickets is very crucial against India, and we tried to do that. Ashwin bowled really well, but he is Ashwin.” It was the first time in the last month and a half that Ashwin was spoken of with such deference.Sri Lanka would have expected Lasith Malinga to be as impactful with the ball, but he had an off day. The yorkers did not come out right and he did not swing the ball much either. Even when India were throwing wickets away, Sri Lanka could not make things happen. Ashwin the batsman calmly saw India through, displaying once again the composure that has shone through for him on this tour. With he and Ravindra Jadeja putting together a partnership to steady a wobbling India, Sri Lanka did not look like a side that had taken four quick wickets and were sensing a win out of nowhere.Perhaps Sri Lanka are yet to get used to the conditions. Perhaps India have been under the pump from Australia for too long, and could not play freely. The end product was an interesting match that ebbed and flowed, but this tournament needs India and Sri Lanka at their best. If Australia are not checked, and the league stage becomes a shootout between the two touring teams to decide the second finalist, it will seem very long.

The international players’ association chief, Tim May, talks about the phenomenon of the freelance cricketer, and the need for India and Pakistan to have player reps

Interview by Rob Steen02-May-2012Tim May has been fighting so many fires lately, it’s a wonder he doesn’t descend into his office by pole.Last week the chief executive of the Federation of International Players’ Associations (FICA) expressed his dismay at the failure of the Bangladesh Cricket Board, despite several requests, to pay those who made their spanking new premier league possible. April also saw him munching on a goodly number of other hot potatoes, principally the Woolf Report and Bangladesh’s on-off-on-off tour of Pakistan. He reserved the outer limits of his measured fury for Mustafa Kamal, for the BCB president’s willingness, as May sees it, to put his ICC ambitions ahead of his own players’ safety.Thanks to the wonders of virtual communication, being domiciled in Texas is no barrier to stating his convictions, offering advice to his constituents and solutions to the pressing issues of the day – issues that refuse to show the slightest inclination to go away. Even if it means being told in bristlingly brusque terms by the PCB that he should mind his own business.He’s used to it. It goes with the territory. How he must wish he was representing the stars of the NFL or NBA or Major League Baseball, confronting management emboldened by the knowledge that collective bargaining and industrial action are par for the course, and even strikes are not uncommon. Well, actually, no. Okay, maybe sometimes.Nonetheless, bemusing Poms with his artfully ripped offbreaks – Shane Warne wasn’t the only Australian spinner to have a ball in the 1993 Ashes – was a breeze next to tackling the opponents ranged against him now.We seem to be reaching crisis point in terms of relations between cricketers and boards, what with the continuing power struggle in the Caribbean and players not being paid in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Or am I exaggerating?
I am not sure that we have reached crisis point quite yet, but there is certainly room for plenty of improvement in not only those territories but some other countries as well. Athletes expect administrators to govern properly, conduct themselves professionally, act in the best interests of the game, and for them to treat the athletes with respect and fairness. The governance structure and the quality of governance in a number of territories is worrying. Cricket really needs to adopt structures and recruit expertise suited to address the issues that confront the modern game.Can FICA ever have true credibility while the Indian players stay out?
We already have credibility – we are formally recognised by the ICC as the representative for players across the majority of Full Member countries. But there is no doubt that our credibility and leverage will be enhanced further if the Indians, Pakistanis and Zimbabweans established player associations within their respective domains. To be honest, we aren’t making much ground here, which is frustrating as we believe that if there ever were countries that needed player associations, India and Pakistan would be the first cabs off the rank.It has always been our position that for a player association to be effective, the players themselves need to be instrumental and passionate regarding its establishment and maintenance – there just isn’t that level of commitment within those two groups of players at the moment. Players’ interests need to be aligned and they need to operate as an unselfish collective, rather than an every-man-for-himself mentality. Until this “collective” mindset can be obtained within these groups of players, it will be difficult to establish an effective player association.

“The BCCI simply won’t recognise any type of player representative. It basically is a policy designed to preserve the unhealthy, inequitable chasm of power that those boards exert over players from those countries”

Another hurdle is the attitude to player associations from the BCCI largely, and to a lesser extent the PCB. The BCCI simply won’t recognise any type of player representative. They will not deal with a player agent, player lawyer or any type of player association – it basically is a policy designed to preserve the unhealthy, inequitable chasm of power that those boards exert over players from those countries.Where do you stand on the Chris Gayle saga?
FICA believes that a player has the right to choose where he plays and for whom he plays – the days of “playing for your country” as the only way you could earn a professional living as a cricketer are well and truly behind us. International cricket needs to realise that there is a competitor to their ability to contract players, and to ensure they react appropriately and progressively to these new market forces. The imposition of unenforceable regulations (such as No Objection Clauses) is obviously not the answer.International cricket bodies need to make international cricket attractive to players. These measures should include smarter programming of matches, addressing the volume-of-cricket issues, offering fair terms and conditions in contracts, meeting their agreed contractual obligations and embracing player input.Has the emergence of the “freelance” cricketer been a boon for FICA and players’ rights – or has it just made life more complex?
I am not sure it has been a boon for FICA, but I believe that it has certainly been good for the game. The emergence of T20 leagues that offer opportunities to players from all over the world, provides greater opportunities for a greater number players to earn a living from cricket – that is a real positive. If the number of employment opportunities and the ability to earn greater levels of income exist in a market, I am sure you would agree that it is a healthy development.Players have always had the ability to freelance, but previously there were few other opportunities aside from county cricket. The creation of T20 has given boards a short-time-frame format, and most importantly a popular format, that they are able to fit into their existing calendars with additional and handsome commercial returns. The relatively high salaries offered to players and the short time-period for an event to be conducted are obviously attractive to players.It has also introduced a market where there is competition for the services of players. Previously a player had no little leverage in any negotiations with his board – if he didn’t accept the contract, because of the barriers of citizenship, he couldn’t play anywhere else. Once you have a competitive employee market, you observe more friendly player terms and rights.Dinanath Ramnarine, the chief executive of the West Indies Players Association, much the most vocal of all such officials, resigned recently. He made enemies but he also appeared to have fought his players’ corner magnificently. Was he good for the cause?
Of course he was – somebody had to fight hard for the player rights down there, and Dinanath had to face significant hurdles and opposition from the WICB for a long period of time. Some critics have criticised Dinanath for constantly being in conflict with the board and have pointed the finger at him as being the major problem in these issues. They couldn’t be further from the truth.Over the past few years, of all the issues that were referred to arbitration for resolution – I think there have been about ten to date – WIPA has won every issue. I think that paints a very clear picture as to who the “good guys” and the “bad guys” are down there.Unsurprisingly the biggest problems always seem to afflict the players from poorer nations, with the ICC’s implicit disregard for the Bangladeshis’ safety in Pakistan a particularly ignoble symbol. Is there an issue you can envisage drawing the bigger boys into the ring?
“Over the past few years, of all the issues that were referred to arbitration for resolution WIPA has won every one. I think that paints a very clear picture as to who the “good guys” and the “bad guys” are down there”•Associated PressFrom time to time we have used the strength and even the resources of the bigger player associations to assist with the positions and negotiations that the more fledgling and less-resourced player associations may be experiencing. We have highlighted the ongoing need for the more established player associations to assist with operational issues faced by the more inexperienced associations – we will be using a “buddy system” whereby one experienced association will be appointed to assist with the development and issue management of a particular inexperienced or under-resourced association. This has been happening for a few years, but on a less formalised and structured basis.You’ve championed the Woolf Report. How would it benefit players’ rights?
Player rights will be better protected and respected if the game is governed responsibly and decisions are made in the wider interests of the game, rather than in the self-interests of those who sit on the board. Players want the ICC to be the best possible organisation it can – we want the ICC to grow the game, to make smart, unbiased decisions and to be free of conflicts of interest in decision-making.We strongly believe the ICC needs the ability to appoint directors who have a wide array of relevant skills and who are independent from the interests of a particular country. The executive board currently comprises people who are appointed from each Full Member country, who typically vote for what is best for their country rather than do what their duty is – that is, vote for what is in the best interests of the game.In short, the ICC needs an executive board comprising largely independent directors, comprising a wide range of relevant skills, who are free from any conflict of interests. That is just basic “good governance”.

Stats highlights from England’s series-leveling win at the P Sara Oval against Sri Lanka

Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan07-Apr-2012 England won their first match in Sri Lanka since their 2-1 series win in 2000-01. They also became only the second team from outside the subcontinent, after Australia, to win a Test in Sri Lanka since that series. During this period, Sri Lanka played 13 series against teams from outside the subcontinent and before this victory today, only Australia had won Tests here (four, over two series). South Africa had lost three out of four Tests, while England had lost by identical 1-0 margins on their last two tours. The last time England drew a Test series in the subcontinent was against India in 2005-06. Since then, they’d lost series to Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan. Sri Lanka’s drop in form continued as they failed to win another series. The last time they won a series was against New Zealand at home in 2009. Since then, in eight series they have lost five series and drawn three. Graeme Swann added to his four-wicket haul in the first innings with six wickets in the second. It is his second ten-wicket match haul and also the second time he picked up six in an innings in the series. Swann’s five-wicket haul is his fourth in the subcontinent. He becomes the first England spinner and the fifth spinner from outside the subcontinent to pick up four or more five-wicket hauls in Asia. Shane Warne leads the list with 11 five-fors. Swann’s series haul of 16 wickets is the second-best by a visiting bowler in a two-Test series in Sri Lanka after Mohammad Asif’s 17 wickets in 2006. The overall record for an overseas bowler in a series in Sri Lanka belongs to Warne, who picked up 26 wickets in three Tests in 2004. Spinners from both sides dominated proceedings in the series, picking up 50 wickets out of 72. This haul is the highest for a two-Test series in Sri Lanka, and the second-highest for a two-Test series anywhere. The only two-match series in which spinners picked up more wickets was when Pakistan toured India in 1998-99 – spinners accounted for 55 wickets then. There have been only seven previous series of three or more matches in Sri Lanka when more than 50 wickets have been picked up by spinners. In this Test, 22 wickets fell to spinners, which is the second-highest at the P Sara Oval. In the Test against India in 2010, spinners accounted for 26 wickets. The one Sri Lankan batsman who resisted England’s bowlers throughout the series was their captain, Mahela Jayawardene, who played 729 balls and scored 354 runs. Only three times has he faced more balls in a series. That list also shows that playing England at home is probably Jayawardene’s favourite pastime – three of his four best series, in terms of balls faced, have been in home series against England. Captains in the subcontinent usually prefer to bat first after winning the toss, but that strategy clearly hasn’t worked at the P Sara Oval – the last six Tests here have all been won by the team batting second. The ground also has an excellent record of producing decisive matches: this is the seventh successsive Test here to produce a decisive result. Tim Bresnan took only two wickets in the match and scored five runs, but his mere presence, it seems, works wonders for England: this is his 11th Test, and England have won every one of them. The only other player who played ten or more Tests and didn’t lose any is Eldine Baptiste: West Indies won each of the ten Tests he played. The overall record for most Tests won at a stretch since debut belongs to Adam Gilchrist – Australia won the first 15 Tests he played.

Aaron Phangiso’s attitude and the natural break in his action has helped him grow quickly as a left-arm spinner

Firdose Moonda24-Oct-2012A decade ago, a team consisting of the likes of AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis and Neil Wagner established a reputation as the Australia of the schoolboy age. They were the hegemons.Most of that group went on to become fairly well-known professional cricketers soon after. Some slipped under the radar and re-emerged only later. Aaron Phangiso was one of the latter lot. His time appears to be now.Of all the players in the ongoing Champions League, Phangiso has been the biggest revelation. Like Kieron Pollard and Davy Jacobs before him, it seems predestined that he will be offered an IPL contract. Unlike the two of them, it will not be because of his feats with the bat. Phangiso’s left-arm spin is a not rare in India but his big-match temperament and wily use of what his former coach, Grant Morgan, calls the “natural pause ball” could make him a clever buy.”If you look at his action, there’s a slight delay before he delivers the ball,” Morgan told ESPNcricinfo. “That makes him very hard to pick because it’s difficult for batsmen to line him up.” Morgan compared the pause to the likes of Saeed Ajmal or R Ashwin, and said it was particularly unusual for a left-armer.As proof of how effective it has been, Phangiso has had the better of Shane Watson, Sachin Tendulkar, M Vijay and Gary Ballance. Those four significant wickets are part of Phangiso’s tournament haul of eight, which puts him third on the wicket-takers’ list. He is three wickets behind the leader Mitchell Starc and could overtake second-placed Azhar Mahmood, who took 10 wickets.But those are not the most impressive of Phangiso’s statistics. Of all the bowlers left in the competition, he has the second-lowest economy rate which stands at 4.43 per over. Ajit Agarkar has been more miserly, giving away only 4.37 runs per over. He also has the second-lowest average, 8.87, of the remaining contenders. Only Morne Morkel’s is better at 8.80.Perhaps the one that will stand out most, especially from the national selectors’ point of view, is that Phangiso has the best strike rate among bowlers in the two South African franchises. His sits at 12.0, which means on average he takes a wicket every two overs and two in every match. That may be why his captain, Alviro Petersen calls him the “banker” of the team who “never gets the credit he deserves but always performs”.In some ways that has been how Phangiso’s career has gone. He started off at Northerns, where he blossomed despite his humble background. “He was never a big turner of the ball but he had a lot of confidence,” Morgan, who coached him there, said. “He was part of that bunch of boys who were not scared to lose and who had a natural competitive instinct.”Roelof van der Merwe was his major competitor at the union and eventually Phangiso decided to seek a clearer path. He moved to the North West Cricket Union where he became one of coach Monty Jacobs’ favourite players. “He has a very dry sense of humour and always has something to say and is one of the best assets in our team,” Jacobs said.Phangiso also brought a wealth of knowledge to the side, which Jacobs could build on. “He is a very clever bowler and always thinking about the game. One of the things I’ve noticed is that he uses flight very well.”From there, Phangiso was picked for the Lions’ limited-overs sides and would return to the North West (one of the Lions two feeder amateur unions) to play first-class cricket. Even though he seems to be boxed in as white-ball player only, Jacobs said that is not the case.”I think it was even in his mind a little that he could only play one-day cricket, but he has more to offer. He is definitely smart enough to play the longer format. I will only see him again in January, because he will be playing in the one-day cup until then but when he gets back, we will keep working on his first-class game. Lions have a lot of spinners like Imran Tahir and Eddie Leie but hopefully he will get a look in.”Phangiso took a hat-trick for North West against Free State last season, which Jacobs said has become the stuff of legend at the union. After this Champions League, it seems they will have many more stories to tell about him.

Since Sunil Joshi’s retirement, Karnataka’s spin cupboard has been bare. It was evident today as Saurashtra feasted on some poor bowling, especially against the spinners

Siddarth Ravindran in Rajkot09-Jan-2013When Sunil Joshi was nearing the end of his illustrious career with Karnataka, there were some murmurs that by playing on past the age of 40, he was blocking the path of younger spinners in the state. The heir apparent to the illustrious lineage of Karnataka spinners – which includes Erapalli Prasanna, Bhagwath Chandrasekhar, Raghuram Bhat and Anil Kumble – was KP Appanna, who had to wait four years since his debut as a 17-year-old in 2006-07 to get a run as the lead slow bowler.Two seasons after Joshi’s retirement though, the vacancy left by him is yet to be filled. It was never more evident than on the fourth day of the quarter-final in Rajkot, when Saurashtra’s batsmen, led by the unstoppable Cheteshwar Pujara, pummelled Karnataka’s attack for 463 runs in a day. Karnataka captain Stuart Binny had talked up how big a role the spinners will have to play on the day, and they trusted Appanna with the new ball.The faith proved misplaced as, like for much of the season, Appanna couldn’t maintain a consistent line and length and gifted away free runs. He bowled too many short deliveries, and wide ones, and just one maiden from him all day meant there was no pressure being built up on the batsmen. While Karnataka had two other spinners they could turn to – K Gowtham is in his first season and Amit Verma is only a part-time legspinner – which meant it was up to Appanna to deliver. He couldn’t.Usually, big scores in Rajkot are pooh-poohed on the basis that the pitches there tend to be extremely flat. That wasn’t the case this time. Karnataka coach J Arunkumar was forthright in his criticism of the spinners. “Can’t blame the pitch, the pitch is actually bad,” he said. “We bowled in bad areas, the wicket is slow, you have to pitch it up, which our bowlers didn’t do, our spinners didn’t do. Bad bowling, we have to accept it.”Even Pujara, usually seen as a soft-spoken man not prone to talking down the opposition, was harsh on the Karnataka spinners. “The ball was turning but I think they did not bowl in the right areas. The bowlers were not mature enough. I feel that it is a kind of wicket where you can easily get ten wickets but I don’t think they bowled well.”He felt the bowlers weren’t aggressive enough. “I was in an attacking mood and they were a little negative. Defensive rather than negative. We were scoring too many boundaries and getting too many runs so rather than taking wickets they were trying to be defensive so that’s the reason we could get away.”In six balls, they were bowling just one or two good balls and if you defend them, you could score two-three boundaries after that.”Pujara had talked about how he had worked on his reverse-sweep to counter defensive bowling on the pads, and he unfurled it three times in a row against Appanna. “I just wanted to play that shot and I just wanted to make sure he comes within the stumps or he has to move out of the leg stump so that was my strategy.”While Appanna’s average of over 50 this season isn’t good enough for a frontline spinner, Karnataka don’t really have too many options. Gowtham fared even worse than Appanna today, and provided loads of half-trackers on the pads. Appanna had been dropped for the crunch league match against Maharashtra last week, but his replacement SK Moinuddin didn’t impress the management enough to retain his place, thereby giving Appanna another chance.Like quality Test spinners for India, the supply line has run dry for Karnataka. “Regarding the history of spinners produced, this is a little shocking,” Arunkumar said. “One of the spinners was inexperienced, but that is no reason (for the poor performance).”

And debating the impregnability of Alastair Cook

Andy Zaltzman25-Feb-2013Things You Should Try To Avoid Doing Early On The Second Afternoon Of A Test Match, Number 1: When fielding at slip, after your team has posted an inadequate first-innings total, and with a rampantly in-form run-machine facing your primary pace bowler early in his innings, drop a straightforward catch.Cheteshwar Pujara has not had a good match so far. He followed his first-day failures, clean bowled by Panesar, with a fielding blooper of disastrous consequence yesterday. With Cook already settling with ominous care, the one Indian to have advanced his reputation so far this series shelled a low but relatively simple catch, when the England skipper edged during a fine spell by Zaheer.The reaction of the Indian players and crowd – a disappointedly irritated wheeze, as if they had just accidentally dropped their great aunt’s ashes into the pancake mixture at her funeral (rendered even worse by the fact that she had suffered from a lifelong flour allergy) ‒ suggested that everyone in Eden Gardens knew that Cook would now inevitably score a large, untroubled and subsequently-chanceless century.This he did with alarming ease, perfect shot-selection, and an impregnable authority, as India meekly subsided with some minimal-intensity cricket. This Indian team is unlikely to feature in too many Greatest Fielding Units Of The 21st Century documentaries, and they appeared resigned to what they seemed to accept as their fate as soon as the great-aunt-ash-fumbling shock had subsided.Over the last 18 months, Dhoni’s team have been embarrassingly easily deflated in the field in Test matches. Yesterday’s play was reminiscent of the 2011 series, when they often seemed to be doing little more to force the fall of a wicket than hoping that the batsmen would be so relaxed by the lack of pressure being applied on them, that they would hallucinate that there was a poisonous anaconda crawling up their middle stump, and try to thwack it off with their bats. The hit-snakewicket dismissals have not materialised, however, partly because their opponents have maintained their concentration, and partly because anacondas are not poisonous, so even in the event of the hallucination being successfully provoked, the batsmen would correctly write it off as a figment to be ignored.Dhoni again did little to try to force errors from the batsmen. Compton began his innings defiantly but strokelessly, offering nothing to the bowlers and even less to the spectator. When he had scored 10 off 47 balls, he was facing Zaheer – with a deep backward point. Had Dhoni seen something in the Somerset Sedative’s demeanour that suggested he was about to unleash an upper-cut for six, or try to reserve sweep India’s lead pacer over the fence?Maybe he had. In which case, the strategy worked. Compton did not attempt to upper-cut or reverse sweep Zaheer for six. So, in hindsight, it was clearly tactically sound. Although it did not immediately appear so at the time.When a previously-hideously-out-of-form Trott came to the wicket late in the day, he was not greeted by a ring of close catchers trying to prey on the doubts that were so patent in his previous innings in the series. Granted, this was the first time this series he had come in to bat with England in a position of dominance, but he must have been delighted to face a field of one slip, a short leg, and a ring of bizarrely-placed fielders set too deep to save the single. Trott also resisted the temptation to chip a ball half-way to the boundary.Cook, meanwhile, is the kind of ice-hearted batsman to take full toll of such generosity. In current form, expecting him to give more than one chance to a fielding side is like waiting for the Pope to moon the crowd in St Peter’s Square. It is not going to happen.He (Cook, not the Pope) now tops the list of Most Test Hundreds By An England Player. Such landmarks are of academic interest, given the vastly increased amount of cricket played by Cook’s generation compared to some of the men he has overtaken, and the increased frequency with which hundreds are scored – 2.04 per Test since 2000, 23% higher than the 1.65 per Test scored between 1945 and 1999. Of more relevance is the fact that he is in the middle of one of the purplest patches an England batsman has ever enjoyed, playing with a technical certainty that escaped him earlier in his career, a range of shots that means he can score at a good rate whilst primarily playing defensively, and an authority that suggests that he will establish himself as one of England’s all-time cricketing greats, as well as the statistical phenomenon he has already become. That said, in England’s two toughest series of the last two years since he found form in Australia, he failed in the UAE against Pakistan, and, after a superb first-day-of-the-series century, at home against South Africa. He is not impregnable. But India are making him look so, with bowling that is as toothless as an orange, and fielding with the fervour of a long-forgotten boiled lettuce.All the while, the patient Eden Gardens crowd roared adequate pieces of fielding as if they had just seen someone juggled ten piranhas without getting bitten even once, and generously, loudly, applauded England’s players. The support given by the spectators in the crowd to the 11 spectators on the field hinted at the atmosphere that could be created if India find a way to break the back of the England batting this morning. On yesterday’s evidence, that is looking like an industrially-sized ‘if’, but it is not inconceivable.More aggressive and inventive tactics in the field yesterday might have made a difference. They might not have made a difference. We will never know.Some stats:Ashwin stat: R Ashwin bowled at Cook with the air of a man who suspected strongly that he would not be unleashing his new personal wicket celebration any time soon. Since inducing a misjudged cut in the first innings of the series, he has now bowled 58.2 overs at England’s bulwark, and taken his wicket once, for a total of 167 runs. And that once was after Cook had already completed his Mumbai century.Cook, however, is the nearest thing Ashwin has to a ‘bunny’ in England’s top order. Since the first innings in Ahmedabad, he is the only top-seven batsman the offspinner has dismissed. In 639 balls, 1 for 329 off 106.3 overs are his figures against England’s top seven in the last four innings. Which is not ideal.Ishant stat: Ishant Sharma bowled creditably but wicketlessly, and looked as confident as you would expect a bowler to be who has not taken more than two wickets in any of his previous nine Tests. In those games, he reaped the meagre harvest of 12 wickets at 87.Cook stat: England’s new standalone record century maker, against all teams other than Bangladesh and West Indies, November 2006 to October 2010: 36 matches, average 33, 4 centuries (out of 18 50-plus scores), highest score 118. Since the start of the Ashes in November 2010, against the same opposition: 23 matches, average 73, 10 centuries (out of 16 50-plus scores), including four scores over 175 (with the likelihood of another today).Another Cook stat: By the close of day one, Cook has scored 82 of his 136 runs in boundaries – 60% – and scored at a strike rate of 57. Both of these figures are currently the highest he has recorded in any of the 21 centuries he has scored against countries other than Bangladesh.

Russell Domingo earned his stripes at Penshurst Park, didn’t you know?

Andy Zaltzman25-Feb-2013Mohammad Amir’s rather naughty appearance in a village match in Surrey has created an understandable stir in the world of cricket. Unsurprisingly, a man who spent much of last summer making Test batsmen look like village players returned tidy figures when bowling to actual village players. Perhaps not tidy enough to have made it worth his while risking his already career-shattering ban being increased still further – even a spell of 10 for 0 would not have tipped those scales – but tidy nonetheless. And the four St Luke’s batsmen dismissed can take solace in the fact that Alastair Cook was routinely scalped by Amir last summer, and it seems to have transformed him into an unstoppable animatronic run robot. By this time next summer, expect to see several of the current St Luke’s XI firmly ensconced in the England set-up.I hope Amir’s ban is not increased, or that any increase is at least suspended. It would be a shame if any lingering chance of one of the 21st century cricket’s greatest talents finding on-the-field redemption is reduced still further by such an idiotic offence.The selection of “the ringer” has a long and proud history in lower level cricket. And, some would say, in the England team. In fact, the struggles of several Test nations suggests that the ICC should consider allowing the lower-ranked teams to field one ringer of their choice in each match. This would make the international game much more competitive and unpredictable. And make Dale Steyn a very tired man.Another man in the cricket news this week can also claim to have enjoyed “ringer” status earlier in his cricketing life, albeit without either attracting quite such media attention at the time, or flouting the terms of an ICC ban.One of Gary Kirsten’s first acts as the undisputed Nebuchadnezzar of South African cricket was to appoint a coaching team of Allan Donald, whom ESPNcricinfo readers will remember as one of the most spell-binding cricketers of the modern era, and Warriors coach Russell Domingo, whom ESPNcricinfo readers will probably not remember in quite the same manner.I, however, do remember Russell Domingo. As a ringer. For my village team. In a mid-week friendly, in the mid-1990s. Mid-week friendlies often present serious recruitment problems for village selection committees, and on this occasion the mighty Penshurst Park CC found themselves struggling to field the traditional 11 players for the annual match away at Hartfield (a largely ceremonial occasion that was, to all practical intents and purposes, a time-killing curtain-raiser for the much more serious business of a pub crawl back to Penshurst). One of our players had already recruited a friend for the day; with the team still short, that friend offered to bring along his friend, a “useful player” from South Africa, who was free for the afternoon, and who, it transpired, was Russell Domingo.The game proceeded at the usual low-octane, semi-arthritic pace of a village friendly, as Penshurst tootled along towards the standard tea-time declaration (as I recall, star opener Andy Zaltzman only partially troubled the scorers that day). About 15 minutes before tea, a wicket fell, and Domingo – heart no doubt thumping like a divorced kangaroo, as the magnitude of his Penshurst Park debut sank in – marched out to bat.Approximately 14 minutes later, he was slightly sheepishly raising his bat to the pavilion to acknowledge his half-century, clouted off about 16 balls, greeted with considerable grumblings and mutterings of “ringer” from the Hartfield team, and with even more considerable grumblings from the people on the adjacent tennis court, unfortunately located just over the midwicket boundary, whose gentle Thursday afternoon mixed doubles had been interrupted by a bombardment of cricket balls plummeting from the Sussex skies via the heavy artillery of Domingo’s bat.That innings represented the high-water mark of Domingo’s Penshurst Park career – the only water mark, in fact, as he returned to play at a level more suited to his abilities. This was, of course, neither the first nor the last incidence of an English team benefitting from selecting a South African who was far better than the local talent available. But Domingo’s career path since then suggests that the confidence gained by playing as a ringer for Penshurst Park set him on the path towards reaching the highest level as a cricket coach. If England have benefitted in recent years from the production line of South African cricket– from D’Oliveira and Greig, via Lamb and Smith, to Pietersen and Trott – now South African cricket should be eternally grateful to English village cricket for its role in developing an international coach for them. Let’s call it quits.

While several IPL teams focus on roping in big names from across the country to fill their Indian players’ quota, the Hyderabad franchise, for one, has shown this season that a strategy built around promising locals can work

Amol Karhadkar21-Apr-2013There are many ways to describe Friday night’s game between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kings XI Punjab. A battle of sub-standard batting, a duel between low-profile teams, a test of nerves… While all these tags can be debated, what cannot be argued is it was a tussle between two IPL teams who have continued to back local talent.One of the main objectives at the time of floating the IPL was to promote local talent. As a result, rules like presence of a minimum of four players from the catchment area and as many under-22 players in the squad were introduced. But as the tournament started evolving and the stakes were raised higher and higher with every passing edition, success on the field overrode these idealistic undertakings for virtually all the teams.As a result, the number of players from the BCCI’s affiliated state units that the IPL franchises are based at was steadily on the decline, especially following the big auction in 2011. While most of the teams have preferred to sign-up Indian players of repute from various parts of the country instead of looking at their own backyard, three teams seem to have got the balance right.Chennai Super Kings, Kings XI Punjab and the Hyderabad franchise have always leaned towards home-grown domestic players. More importantly, while other teams have preferred to make several of their local players warm the benches, these three teams have made effective use of the local talent at their disposal.With R Ashwin, M Vijay and S Badrinath having earned India caps, Super Kings hardly have a slot for another local who can be drafted in to the squad. However, despite the absence of big names – not only on the international stage but even on the domestic circuit – the Hyderabad and Mohali-based franchises have consistently allowed local talent exposure on the IPL’s big stage. While Delhi Daredevils have just four players, including Virender Sehwag, from Delhi in their squad of 27 this year, Kings XI’s squad of 25 includes nine players from Punjab and Haryana.Thus players like Manan Vohra and Gurkeerat Singh, and Hyderabad’s Hanuma Vihari, Akshath Reddy and Ashish Reddy – who are far from having established themselves as a force on the domestic circuit – have risen in confidence over the past two years. So what is it that has kept these two teams backing their local talent?”We cannot forget that it’s a Kings XI Punjab team, so talent from the catchment area is of paramount importance for us,” Arvinder Singh, Kings XI’s chief operating officer, says. “And it’s not just for the heck of promoting the regional cricketers that these players are on board. These guys have shown they have the potential. And home conditions is something that all of them are used to.”

“I feel it’s time to encourage local talent. And eventually we should reach a stage wherein, while the international players remain important, the seven local players end up being the decisive factor in the IPL.”Sunrisers Hyderabad mentor VVS Laxman

Sunrisers mentor VVS Laxman feels it’s time the teams recognised that the key to success is the seven Indian players in the side. “The seven Indian cricketers that are in the team need to perform for the team’s success. While you have four overseas players, it’s so important for your domestic players to perform,” Laxman says. “We’re really lucky that we’ve got some young players from Hyderabad who can be match-winners for the franchise – not only now but in future too. These are players who have everything in them in order to serve the franchise with great distinction.”I feel it’s time to encourage local talent. And eventually we should reach a stage wherein, while the international players remain important, the seven local players end up being the decisive factor in the IPL.”With very little time to prepare with the whole squad together ahead of the IPL season, the presence of local players helps in building a conducive team environment as well. “It always helps when an IPL squad includes a decent number of local cricketers. Not only do they know the conditions very well, they help a great deal when it comes to team bonding,” former Mumbai Indians coach Lalchand Rajput says. “Look at Chennai Super Kings. Since many of their players play together round the year, it doesn’t matter whether they’ve have spent enough time together in the Chennai Super Kings camp.”Mumbai Indians and Pune Warriors have emerged as teams who have bothered little about local cricketers, especially this year. While Pune Warriors haven’t signed a player who represents Maharashtra, Mumbai Indians have so far opted to bench four of the Ranji Trophy-winning cricketers who are a part of their squad this season.Despite having star-studded line-ups, both the Mumbai and Pune teams are yet to find consistency with their performances. The Hyderabad outfit, on the other hand, despite having the weakest batting line-up on paper, finds itself sitting atop the points tally. When they face Warriors on Sunday, will Kings XI also prove that under-rated locals are indeed more valuable than reputed imports?

Pakistan have a problem at the top of their order. Their experienced opener is struggling, and they are still having try-outs for the other spot

Firdose Moonda in Harare11-Sep-2013If Mohammad Hafeez makes a trip to Lake Kariba after this series, he would fancy his chances of returning with a decent stash, considering that every time he has gone fishing recently, he’s caught something. The edge.Twice in three innings against Zimbabwe and four times out of six in South Africa, Hafeez has been caught behind the stumps, chasing deliveries he should have left alone. Even on a placid pitch at Harare Sports Club, Hafeez’s uncertainty outside the off stump was exposed by the moving ball.This time it took 32 deliveries against an attack that took some time to find its line – understandably so, because one half of the opening pair, Brian Vitori, had not played a Test in 19 months – but it happened nonetheless. Vitori pitched the ball up and moved it away so that Hafeez had to play, and the outside edge carried to Hamilton Masakadza at first slip.Vitori would have seen Hafeez’s doubt against previous deliveries. He had shouldered arms tentatively when Vitori first found movement and was beaten when he tried to defend on the back foot. Against another delivery, Hafeez was surprised by the lack of bounce and withdrew his bat too late. There was an edge but it fell short of first slip.That was just before lunch and it must have got Vitori thinking. During the break, someone may have reminded him how Hafeez had been dismissed in the first Test. He had been caught in his crease by Tendai Chatara and pushed forward, only to be caught at second slip in the first innings.Vitori and Chatara are no Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander but it may have been brought to their attention how the South African bowlers got the better of Hafeez six months ago. In five out of six innings, he edged – once onto his stumps – and the rest to be caught by the keeper or slips. The exception was when he played down the wrong line to one that moved across him and was trapped lbw. Steyn was responsible for four of those dismissals, moving the ball away from Hafeez every time.With Vitori’s natural angle taking the ball away from Hafeez, he could use that to his advantage. And all that is before considering the dry spell Hafeez is experiencing in the longer format.Hafeez has scored only one hundred and one fifty in his last three series and both of them were in batsmen-friendly conditions. His 196 was at the SSC and was followed by a 52 in Pallekele. On anything livelier, he has struggled.Those who have watched him for years are not surprised and point to a distinct lack of improvement in his Test cricket. Hafeez’s highest score against a major team outside the subcontinent is 95 against England at The Oval in 2006. Four of his five hundreds have come in his home country, Sri Lanka or Bangladesh. The exception was 119 against Zimbabwe two years ago in Bulawayo, on a surface that was as flat as the attack he was facing.With no marked progression in ten years of playing Test cricket, questions over whether Hafeez should continue opening are valid, especially with a series against South Africa ahead. He averages only 17 against them, and though pitches in the UAE are likely to offer little to the quicks and opening is likely to be less challenging than it is in Africa, Steyn and co will not make life easy for Hafeez.His value as a spinner aside, Pakistan may have to consider other options if they hope to present a strong resistance upfront against the world’s top-ranked team. Taufeeq Umar would appear the leading contender because of his record against South Africa. In six matches he played against them, he scored two hundreds and four fifties and averaged 60.83. However, most of those runs were scored ten years ago and whether Taufeeq can summon similar resolve is the question.Imran Farhat is another candidate, although his presence seems to be anything but palatable to many Pakistan fans. He also has decent numbers against South Africa, an average of 36.83 in six Tests with a century and two fifties. He played against them in the most recent series and appeared in control when he scored 30 and 43. Or they could revert to Nasir Jamshed, who opened in two Tests in South Africa and was dropped after not faring well.Alternatively, Pakistan could gamble on a youngster in Ahmed Shehzad. Although he has not played Test cricket, his limited-overs form in Zimbabwe hinted at promise and ability. They would have to risk partnering a rookie with Khurram Manzoor, who impressed Dav Whatmore on his comeback but is still re-finding his feet in international cricket.Manzoor took a step towards doing that today, by scoring the first half-century by a Pakistan opener in five Tests this year. His partner Hafeez, on the other hand, may want to get fishing out of his system before taking on South Africa.